Sacramento's Trash Talk has been quietly creating loud, thrash hardcore since 2005. Last year, the band reluctantly emerged from the underground, receiving New York Times ink following an unforgettable CMJ performance.

Check out the new video for “Slander,” off the Awake EP from late 2011, featuring animation by artist Jay Howell, a longtime Bay Area resident now living in LA. Warning: Not a cartoon for kids!

--Whitney Phaneuf

Newcomers Plastic Villains was born from a jam session in an SF basement and quickly evolved its psychedelic rock sound to become a thriving Bay Area band. Read more about them in an exclusive Deli interview.

Download Plastic Villains' new single "Say My Name" or 2011 EP Whoever You Are Today and catch them live on Jan. 31 in SF at the Elbo Room.

--Whitney Phaneuf

SF’s pioneer producer Al Lover has just released a new album in support of the Austin Psych Festival taking place April 27-29 in Austin, Texas. Download or stream the mixtape, filled with the artist’s trademark chopped up blends of garage and psychedelic rock featuring artists such as Woods, The Black Angels, Psychic Ills and Brian Jonestown Massacre. The artist also just released an amazing new video for his track “Smoke Filled Thrills” from the album Satanic Tambourines, out now on Impose Records.

--Amanda Dissinger

We sat down with Tara Tati, the dark-rocking, cabalistic visionary behind Oakland’s emerging indie band, Metal Mother. Metal Mother is a finalist for the Deli's Year End Best of SF Poll.

Deli: What first got you interested in music?

TT: Since I can remember, I was dancing around to the records my parents played. They listened to Talking Heads, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, all the classics. But if you’re asking me when I got interested in making music, that’s a different story. I first learned that I loved piano when I was about 10, but never thought I was capable of being an actual musician. Writing songs and having a band seemed like a daunting and unthinkable task to undertake, so I dismissed my little talent as a hobby and nothing more. Then, in 2007, some friends who had seen me goofing on the keys at my house one day, asked me to play at their festival in Oregon, so I did. From there, the support and encouragement snowballed, making it a comfortable journey into musician-hood. 

Deli: How did you find your niche?

TT: I'm definitely still figuring it out. It seems the majority of my fan base is too broad to really know a specific demographic at this point, other than people who appreciate dark, melancholy, tripped-out music.

Deli: Where do your various influences stem from?

TT: Though I’ve been primarily involved with the underground rave scene for most of my adult life, it’s brought me full-circle to really appreciating the magic of live instrumentation and classical arrangement in addition to electronic production. I’m wildly inspired by other female performers such as Grace Jones, Siouxsie Sioux, and Bjork; and as for song writing and composing, I’m really into the work of Brian Eno, Sufjan Stevens, and Nico Muhly.

Deli: What's it like to start your own label and what was the most difficult aspect of the process?

TT: I’ve started a couple other businesses in the past, so I kind of knew what to expect. When I decided to really go for it, I read like five books on how to start my own label and crack into the music industry. From that I devised a fairly solid plan, and of course, left room for sweet luck to fill in the gaps.

Deli: What's up next for you in 2012? 

TT: Right now I’m starting to work on the next album, which will be inspired by the world’s greatest female warriors and witches. We’re also planning a tour in March, which will include a week at SXSW, and then there’ll be a couple more months of writing and recording followed by a slew of summer shows. There may be a music video happening in there too somewhere.

Deli: What do you find inspiring about the color black?

TT: It’s a blank canvas; all the impossibilities of vision are possible within its darkness. Plus, it symbolizes the great feminine mysteries that so heavily influence my songwriting.

Deli: What do you hope to accomplish in your career?

TT: I know its cliché, but honestly, all I’ve ever wanted is to be happy.  I’ve always believed that if I wanted it badly enough, I could find something I loved doing and actually make a living at it, no matter what it was.

Deli: If you could open for one artist dead or alive, who would it be?

Deli: Man, tough question. Shit, Klaus Nomi. Just so I could see him perform.

--Courtney Garcia

Click on the cover ot read it!.

Our Deli jurors just finished rating all the Bay Area artists that submitted to be considered for our Year End Best of SF Poll for Emerging Artists - and here are the results for you to check out! The artists in this list will qualify for the next phase of the poll, and will be added to the bands nominated by our jury of local scenemakers.

P.S. If you are interested in understanding how our Year End Poll for Emerging Artists works, please go here.

-QUALIFIED TO THE POLL'S NEXT ROUND-

1. Excuses For Skipping

2. The Stone Foxes

Feel-good folk and blues from brothers Shannon and Spence Koehler, and Aaron Mort.

3. Jhameel

The prolific Oakland-based pop purveyor bring the dance party wherever he goes. Jhameel is truly DIY, playing each and every instrument himself and producing his own music.

4. McCabe & Mrs. Miller

A collaboration between Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven/Monks of Doom) and Alison Faith Levy (The Loud Family/The Sippy Cups), McCabe & Mrs. Miller bring together blues, folk, and country in memorable duets about longing, regret, and desire.

Fare Thee Well

5. Mist Giant

SF's resident experimental electro, the trio's 2011 debut EP Human Tree put them on the map.

6. The Hypnotist Collectors

Part of the Bay's growing jangle scene, The Hypnotist Collectors play retro, rootsy rock n' roll with an Oakland edge.

7. Metal Mother

Led by Oakland's Tara Tati,  Metal Mother proves the Bay can do dark wave and do it well (take that LA!).

8. moonbell

Don't dare capitalize the first letter of moonbell or its figurine EP, released this year to praise from local and national press for its droned-out dream pop sound.

9. The Family Crest

A seven-piece, orchestral indie rock band, The Family Crest extends to more than 250 members participating in recordings, live performances, and media projects.

--Whitney Phaneuf & Deli Staff

If you overdosed on the easy listening sounds of 2011, there is a chillwave backlash thriving in the Bay in the form of bass (avoiding the term "dubstep" since it also became a bad word in 2011).

Minnesota's single Sun Burst landed on a lot of electronic music lovers year-end lists, and 2012 holds even more excitement for the DJ boy wonder as he announced today he's part of the Coachella lineup.

Another up-and-comer in the scene is Sound Science who recently released his first remix and is currently at work on his first EP. Expect a Deli preview of the reclusive DJ's debut performance this year (rumor is he is the hot guy above).

--Whitney Phaneuf

Sun Burst (OUT NOW ON BEATPORT) by Minnesota

Tesseract by sound science

Last we mentioned Oakland troupe Kapowski, I professed my adoration for twee lead singer Jesse Rimler in the form of a marriage proposal. He friended me on Facebook, so it's probably gonna happen.

Now Kapowski returns to our blogroll with a new mp3, "Section Eight," from their soon-to-be-released LP Boy Detective. On "Section Eight," Kapowski has rebounded with the same darling, stylistic middle eight harmonies and indie-tastic bleeps that landed them on our radar in the first place. There's also a promo video to go along with the track featuring a tux-clad, suburban butler-bot who self-destructs all while a black and white Kapowski plays on the 50s era TV set (watch below).

If you find yourself smitten with Kapowski's unquestionable charm, they'll be throwing an album release party at Rickshaw Stop on February 1st along with fellow Oaktowners Mwahaha and Bells.

-Justine Fields